Synopsis...

You may be confused about the title of this opera. ThatÂ’s because itÂ’s TWO operas. ThereÂ’s a long-standing tradition of showing these two operas, "Cavalleria Rusticana," by Mascagni, and "Pagliacci," by Leoncavallo, on the same billing. TheyÂ’re both quite brief, and in a similar style, so it works. One of the most famous images in all of opera -- Pavarotti putting white clown makeup on while crying and singing a sad, sad song -- is from Pagliacci.